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Contradictory Symbols in American Revolutionary Newspaper Nameplates Brigham Young University BYU ScholarsArchive Theses and Dissertations 2009-03-10 Royal Images and Rebel Ideals: Contradictory Symbols in American Revolutionary Newspaper Nameplates Autumn Lorimer Linford Brigham Young University - Provo Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd Part of the Communication Commons BYU ScholarsArchive Citation Linford, Autumn Lorimer, "Royal Images and Rebel Ideals: Contradictory Symbols in American Revolutionary Newspaper Nameplates" (2009). Theses and Dissertations. 1769. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/1769 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. Royal Images and Rebel Ideals: Contradictory Symbols in American Revolutionary Newspaper Nameplates by Autumn Lorimer Linford A thesis submitted to the faculty of Brigham Young University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Department of Communications Brigham Young University April 2009 Copyright © 2009 Autumn Lorimer Linford All Rights Reserved BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY GRADUATE COMMITTEE APPROVAL of a thesis submitted by Autumn Lorimer Linford This thesis has been read by each member of the following graduate committee and by majority vote has been found to be satisfactory. Date Kevin Stoker, Chair Date Edward Adams Date Dale Cressman BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY As chair of the candidate’s graduate committee, I have read the thesis of Autumn Lorimer Linford in its final form and have found that (1) its format, citations, and bibliographical style are consistent and acceptable and fulfill university and department style requirements; (2) its illustrative materials including figures, tables, and charts are in place; and (3) the final manuscript is satisfactory to the graduate committee and is ready for submission to the university library. Date Kevin Stoker Chair, Graduate Committee Accepted for the Department Date Kevin Stoker Accepted for the College Date Rory Scanlon, Associate Dean ABSTRACT ROYAL IMAGES AND REVOLUTIONARY IDEALS: CONTRADICTORY SYMBOLS IN AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY NEWSPAPER NAMEPLATES Autumn Lorimer Linford Department of Communications Master of Arts Historians have long claimed that the newspaper printers of the American Revolution were instrumental in bringing about Independence. By focusing solely on the written words left behind by these men, however, researchers have erroneously believed the printers belonged exclusively to either the patriot or Tory camps. The masthead symbols chosen by the printers to represent their newspapers offer a more objective measure of their partisan affiliations than a textual analysis of the content. The printers marked major changes in their political ideologies by inserting and deleting political symbols in their newspaper mastheads. This study examines the use and meanings of these engravings, arguing that the symbols best represent the personal views of the printers. The study of masthead designs will help historians better understand Colonial printers and their progress toward their ultimate political affiliation. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS For Mom, Dad, and my committee, who were always willing to go with me on my trips to the 18th century, and especially for my husband Wayne, who patiently waited for me to come home each night to the 21st. CONTENTS Chapter 1. Introduction ..................................................................................1 Chapter 2. Literature Review .........................................................................7 Chapter 3. Early Patriot Newspapers .............................................................40 Chapter 4. Newspapers that Began Loyal ......................................................92 Chapter 5. Initially Unbiased Newspapers.....................................................110 Chapter 6. Conclusion ....................................................................................156 Appendixes ....................................................................................................161 Endnotes .........................................................................................................164 vii ILLUSTRATIONS Figures 1. “Britannia liberating a bird” Boston Gazette and Country 27 Journal 2. “Minerva liberating a bird” Boston Gazette and Country 28 Journal 3. “JOIN, or DIE,” Pennsylvania Gazette 29 4. New-York Journal, or General Advertiser nameplate, 1774 30 5. George III Royal Coat of Arms 31 6. “King’s arms,” South Carolina Gazette nameplate 31 7. “King’s arms,” Pennsylvania Chronicle nameplate 32 8. “Britannia liberating a bird” Boston Gazette and Country 41 Journal, April 1755 9. “Britannia liberating a bird” Boston Gazette and Country 42 Journal, August 1758 10. “Heart and Crown,” Connecticut Courant nameplate 44 11. “Britannia liberating a bird” Boston Gazette and Country 65 Journal, January 1766 12. “Minerva liberating a bird” Boston Gazette and Country 65 Journal, January 1770 13. New-York Journal, or General Advertiser nameplate, 1774 136 14. “United snake,” New-York Journal; or, the General Advertiser 145 viii Chapter 1 Introduction During the American Revolution, well-known Tory newspaperman James Rivington was mercilessly mocked, vindictively scorned, and regularly threatened for his open support of the British Crown. His New York newspaper was called a “scurrilous Sheet” and banned by at least one provincial congress. The printer was at one point hung in effigy, thrown out of his own printing house, had his printing press destroyed by an angry mob, was set upon by armed men on horseback, run out of town, and had his metal type carried away and melted into bullets. In particular, Colonial Patriots sneered at Rivington for his addition of the king’s coat of arms into the center of his newspaper’s nameplate. The poet Phillip Freneau jeered at the long-persecuted printer for the engraving in a poem entitled, “On Mr. Rivington’s new engraved King’s Arms to his Royal Gazette”: “From the regions of night with his head in a sack, Ascended a person accoutred in black, And upwards directing his circular eye whites Like the Jure-divino political Levites, And leaning his elbow on Rivington’s shelf While the printer was busy, thus mus’d with himself— “My mandates are fully comply’d with at last, New Arms are engraved, and new letters are cast; I therefore determine, and freely accord, This servant of mine shall receive his reward.” Then turning about, to the printer he said, “Who late was my servant shall now be my aid; Since under my banners so bravely you fight, Kneel down! For your merits I dub you a Knight: From a passive subaltern I bid you to rise The Inventor, as well as the PRINTER, of Lies.”1 1 Rivington was not alone, however, in printing the king’s arms in his newspaper’s nameplate. Nor was the practice restricted exclusively to Tory printers. In fact, many newspapers included engravings of British symbols before the American Revolution began, including some of the most outspoken Patriot papers. The important role played by printers before the American Revolution in convincing the Colonials of Britain’s wrongs is well documented. Tory and Patriot printers often engaged in the many heated arguments proceeding independence, reprinting essays by noted revolutionaries or ardent Loyalists and occasionally interjecting their own vicious written parleys. And yet, many Patriot printers still chose to print each edition with an undeniably British symbol at the top of every front page – a heart surrounded by a crown, Britannia embodied by a young woman liberating a bird representing America, the symbolic Britannia and America shaking hands, even the king’s own royal coat of arms. In contrast, many Tory newspapers did not include pro- British symbols during the first few years of publication. Some, like Rivington’s New York Gazetteer, used impartial symbols until 1774 or 1775, when the printers were forced to choose a side. A few Tory papers even began with American symbols, such as their province’s coat of arms. Scholars have largely overlooked the symbols used in Colonial newspaper nameplates, even though art historians and iconologists have long asserted the importance Colonials gave to symbols in general. Symbols were used extensively during the eighteenth century throughout America in the art hung in fashionable homes, on business signs, and even on government buildings. The importance given to symbolic representations by early Americans is attested to by a brief anecdote: On July 4, 1776, the 2 very day independence was declared from Great Britain, the Continental Congress assigned a committee to design a seal for the still profoundly-green American government. Their eagerness to establish an emblem for the country confirms the people’s desire for a symbol or banner to rally around.2 The symbols printers chose to use in their newspaper nameplates in many ways functioned as the printer’s personal banner. It allowed these men to visually communicate their loyalties and values to their readers. As such, the nameplates of Colonial newspapers are an important part of any study attempting to understand the motivations and feelings of these men. Nameplate symbols become an even more valuable clue to understanding Colonial printers when it is noted that, most often, these engravings were the only significant
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